Sajila Nudrat | Health Editor
Featured Image: York Students are gearing up for another day of binge-drinking. | Courtesy of Pexels
It is most notably the busiest time of the semester. With midterms ending and finals quickly approaching, it seems silly to spend a day in someone else’s shoes. With Halloween also falling right in the middle of the week, it can be difficult to get out, get dressed, and frivolously enjoy the festivities.
For some students, it’s a break from their hectic lives, where they can sit down, shoot the breeze with their friends and throw a couple drinks back to forget why they even started drinking in the first place. Yet, before they lose themselves in the polyester, marijuana, and tequila, it’s good to note that halloween should not be an excuse for their livers to regret the holiday altogether.
When asked if he was partaking in any Halloween activities, an anonymous second-year business student replied, “I’m dressing up for Halloween as Tarzan and going to a club. I usually dress up and go to a social gathering or to a Halloween based event.
“I don’t consider Halloween an excuse to go out and party, I don’t like to drink heavy as I’m there to enjoy time with my friends and not become a liability to them,” he says.
Halloween can be a time for students to take a well deserved break. Some might argue it can come at the worst of times academically, but others can say that what makes it so great is that it essentially forces a person to put down their pen. One thing that’s clear is that if there’s only one day to slack off, people might take that to an extreme.
Halloween is considered one of the booziest of holidays. While kids are out in search of candy, young adults tend to look for something a lot stronger, and a little less sweet. Whatever the case, Halloween might not be for everyone, as not all share the sentiment.
An anonymous first-year political science student says: “I won’t be dressing up, I will be doing school work. I haven’t celebrated Halloween since I was a child. Mostly because it just isn’t for me. As an actor, dressing up for me isn’t special—it’s a day at work, so that might be part of the reason I don’t like celebrating it.”
Shayandeep Das, a second-year health management and health services financial student said: “I’m going to a small party and then hitting a club. I don’t use Halloween as an excuse to drink heavily because I do that when I want to. Halloween is about enjoying time with friends—enjoyment itself is supremely subjective, and everyone has their own process. I don’t see Halloween as an excuse, but rather, an occasion to enjoy.”
While drinking during holidays is a relatively common practice, binge-drinking on university and college campuses tends to exceed the average. When Halloween falls on a weekend, the work for campus security and local police becomes more difficult, as students tend to go on an alcohol-fuelled benders starting Friday night and lasting well throughout the weekend (colloquially known as Halloweekend). However, when Halloween falls on a weekday, the parties tend to be spread out, with various events lasting throughout the week.
